Brian P. Watson

Danny Ertel knows a bad negotiation when he sees one. And often, when dealing with CIOs, he sees a number of telltale signs of deals going bad. That doesn’t bode well for many IT executives, especially in a time where their job description is undergoing dramatic change. Today, IT organizations are becoming leaner, focusing increasingly […]

The IT organization is changing–so much so that, soon enough, it may be unrecognizable. A number of factors in play for years are gaining steam, and together they’ll likely force a dramatic transformation in the size and scope of the IT department. Internal organizations are becoming smaller, more nimble and more focused. Globalization is affecting […]

CIOs aren’t the only ones buying IT for their companies anymore, new research from Forrester shows. And how IT executives respond to the shift could have a major impact on their standing in the front office. The yet-to-be-published findings reveal that 25 percent of executives outside of IT are directly selecting vendor tools entirely on […]

Before anyone had the chance to mutter "has-been," Google rebounded from social networking misfit to prime contender. Microsoft last month dealt a blow to the search giant’s efforts, winning a stake in fast-growing Facebook. The Googleplex roared back with a series of major moves, capping off an eventful few weeks by announcing Thursday that MySpace […]

The IT organization of the future will look drastically different than it does today. Embodying that model of the future is the IT organization at big-box retailer Best Buy, the $12.9 billion big-box and online consumer electronics retailer. Led by CIO Bob Willett, Best Buy’s IT team consists of a collection of business-minded strategists and […]

Almost everything Google touches turns to gold, but its social networking efforts have lacked that magic touch. As business interest in social nets grows, that leaves a sizable gap in Google’s offerings. In early October, Microsoft dealt a blow to the search giant’s efforts, winning a stake in fast-growing Facebook. Just weeks later, though, the […]

It’s being called the "last beachfront property" in wireless. But for businesses, the chunk of the radio spectrum up for auction may end up more like a shanty. In January, the Federal Communications Commission will take bids for the 700-MHz frequencies being abandoned by television stations that, by Congressional mandate, must shift from analog to […]

Alignment of IT strategies with business priorities might not be the foremost concern for CIOs anymore, according to the Society of Information Management, but it still matters. For the first time since 1995, SIM members did not ranks IT-business alignment as their No. 1 concern. It came in second. [The top concern was hiring, training […]

Bob Otto knows something about IT that delivers, having served as a programmer, security specialist and portfolio manager with the United States Postal Service before becoming CIO and CTO in January 2001. Prior to his Oct. 1 retirement, he spoke with senior writer Brian P. Watson about his experiences in IT management and what he […]

IT departments have enjoyed years of stable or growing budgets as they’ve expanded their prowess in driving corporate revenue growth and cost improvements since the economic downturn a half-decade ago. But CIOs got a loud wake-up call late this summer that conditions can change unexpectedly, as credit and mortgage woes combined with general uncertainty plunged […]

Al Gore preaches it. HP, IBM, Sun and other tech giants sell it. And a good number of businesses are buying into it.   "Green IT" lets companies put on their eco-friendly faces and proclaim their love of the environment. It is also a bean counter’s dream, in which innovative uses of hardware and software […]

Bringing companies together is something of a specialty for Patricia Morrison, who joined Motorola as executive vice president and CIO in 2005, following stints as the top IT executive for Office Depot and Quaker Oats. A key focus in each of these jobs has been integrating operations after mergers and acquisitions. At Motorola, for example, […]